Cheatham originally was sentenced to death for the 2003 shooting deaths of two Topeka women. Police said the shootings were drug-related.

A new trial was ordered for Cheatham in 2013 when the Kansas Supreme Court overturned his capital murder conviction and death penalty sentence for the Dec. 13, 2003, killings of Annette Roberson and Gloria Jones, who were shot to death in a southeast Topeka home.

The court cited ineffective assistance of counsel in overturning the conviction.

Cheatham also faces charges for the attempted first-degree murder of Annetta D. Thomas, who was shot 19 times.